The recent articles in The Garden Island (“Mayor: County doesn’t really want to own Kaua’i Electric,” page 2-A, Nov. 14) by staff writer Paul Curtis concerning the potential purchase of Kaua’i Electric appears to be largely based on handouts from
The recent articles in The Garden Island (“Mayor: County doesn’t really want to own Kaua’i Electric,” page 2-A, Nov. 14) by staff writer Paul Curtis concerning the potential purchase of Kaua’i Electric appears to be largely based on handouts from Gregg Gardiner of Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) and illustrates the shallow nature of reporting on this important decision.
The inadequate perception in the reporting segments about KIUC is particularly interesting. It is reported that Mr. Gardiner has lofty perceptions about solar panels’ future use and that he is serving without prospects of financial gain, but why doesn’t the article talk about what the perceptions of KIUC board members are for solar panel use or the fact that all of the other KIUC directors are also serving without compensation? Why the focus on Gardiner’s egocentric comments? Gardiner’s Jonny-come-lately conversion to solar water heating on every roof sounds like a jailhouse conversion, since he didn’t mention it at the numerous KIUC public meetings.
One article covers what is called the KIUC annual meeting. In the usual case, such meetings are held for members to elect directors, but as KIUC has no members, an uncertainty exists as to what could lawfully happen at the undated gathering. The Curtis article fails to mention whether a director election occurred and is mostly devoted to being a propaganda mouthpiece for Mr. Gardiner.
The headline “Mayor: County doesn’t really want to own Kaua’i Electric” was very misleading and out of context. The mayor has repeatedly stated that she does not want the county to acquire Kaua’i Electric at a price which could not be defended, and that if Kaua’i Electric becomes county-owned that the county should not be responsible for its day-to-day operations. Any inference that county ownership is unacceptable is refuted by the fact that the mayor has established the Committee for Governance of an Island Utility to identify whether the county or another entity should acquire Kaua’i Electric, and she is supportive of the concept that the best choice is the one which could run Kaua’i Electric at the lowest cost. In addition, why would the county allocate $100,000 to do an assessment of KE if the county had no interest in buying it? A major problem with the mayor’s committee is the obstructionist techniques employed by the KIUC board members who sit on the mayor’s committee, supposedly because of their experience. This experience is of questionable value, according to the intervenors who said the KIUC board “lacked the experience” and their proposed transaction was “not in the best interest of the public.” Their conflict of interest has become obvious on numerous occasions, especially their quibbling over whether a co-op had members, and if those members could vote.
Now the KIUC board members sitting on the mayor’s committee have resigned from the KIUC board so they can assert they now have no conflict of interest. Right.
If you believe that, I have a run-down power plant to sell you at a very inflated price.
Is it too much to ask that The Garden Island report about this important matter and avoid simply reprinting press handouts from KIUC? Even a modest attempt to get the relevant facts and report them objectively would be a valuable educational service to a public confused by months of KIUC propaganda.
Ed Coll, Lihu’e
